Sunday, October 18, 2009

Last weekend, we spent 3 nights at Yosemite, and the first one really could not be topped. We found a site at Bridalveil Creek, about 7200' in elevation. We set up camp, put up the tent, built a fire, and started with food prep. As the night cooled and got dark, I regularly felt bugs on my hand or neck, but didn't really think about it too hard. Later, we were about ready to sleep; crawl into the sealed up tent and I see that there is a spider on Bionica's jacket. "There is a spider on your jacket" I say, and as she turns around, I see there are about 5-6 more on her other side. Then, looking at myself, I see another 5-6 on me. Brown daddy-long-legs looking things, but a bit bigger and fully grown. And great, we've dragged them in. We finally get them all after a 10 minute hunting trip inside the tent. As I look through the mesh door, outside the tent, I see another 12-15 just on the other side, looking to come in. Nasty.

When I woke up the next morning, they were still there, so let the squishing begin. And when we broke down the tent, there were probably two-dozen under the floor. We moved to another campsite for obvious reasons. Since it was in the teens and cold overnight, we can only assume the heat attracted them, but why hang around the outside of the tent instead of the warm fire pit? Quite a mystery.

Rest of the trip was good, with day hikes everyday. See the pics. Keep your tents zipped up tight tonight...